Techniques for English learning

2. PRÉCIS WRITING
The word précis is derived from French that means
summary and précis writing means the art of summarizing.
Précis writing is one of the most useful skills you can
acquire for your work both as a student and as a
professional. Précis writing involves summarizing a
document to extract the maximum amount of information,
then conveying this information to a reader in minimum
words.
Definition: A précis is a clear, compact logical summary of
a passage. It preserves only the essential or important ideas
of theoriginal

3.  QUALITIES OF A GOOD PRÉCIS
A good précis shows the writing skills of a person. It must
have the following qualities.
1. Clarity
Clarity means getting your message across so that the
receiver can understand what the writer is trying to convey.
It is the basic and essential need of a précis. The ideas
should be clear and understandable. There should not be
any ambiguity in your writing. The writer can achieve
clarity by using simple language and simple structure. If
your précis is not understandable to the reader it will lose
its importance and meanings for thereader.

4. . Correctness
Mistakes in your writings always irritate the reader. Of
course mistakes are never intentional; even so there is no
excuse for them. At the time of writing or composing a
précis the writer must ensure that the facts and figures are
correct. Structure of sentences and spellings of words must
be correct because a single mistake in structure and
spelling may spoil the message. We may consider the
mistakes under the following headings:
Misspelled words
Mistakes in figures anddates
Mistakes in punctuation
Mistakes of grammar andstructure

5.  3. Objectivity
Objectivity means the ability to present or view facts
uncolored by feelings, opinions and personal bias. While
making a précis, the writer should adopt an objective
approach. He should not give and add his personal opinion
and ideas in a précis. A précis should be purely a summary of
theoriginal textwithoutanyaddition.
4. Coherence
Coherence means the logical and clear interconnection of
ideas in a written piece of work. A good précis should be
coherent. The ideas which are presented in a précis must have
a logical connection and they all should be interrelated. In
short we may say that the ideas should be well knitted so that
thewriter may not beconfused and lose his interest

6. 6. Conciseness
Conciseness is adesirablequalityof agood précis.
Conciseness means to say all that needs to be said and no
more. The writer should write what is necessary and avoid
writing unnecessary details. A concise piece of work
conveys the message in the fewest possible words. But one
point must be kept in mind that thewritershould not omit
some basic and essential facts to achieve conciseness. To
achieve conciseness, notice the followingsuggestions:
Omitting unnecessarydetails
Eliminate wordyexpressions
Include only relevantmaterial
Avoid unnecessary repetition

7. RULES OF MAKING A PRÉCIS
A well written précis should be a serviceable substitute for
the original work. The goal of a précis is to preserve the
core essence of the work in a manner that is both clear and
concise. Whilewriting a précis, thewritershould follow the
below given rules to make itan effective pieceof work.
Read Carefully
First read the passage twice or thrice carefully to
summarize it. This will enableyou to understand the main
theme of thepassage.
Underlining
Underline and mark the important ideasand essential
points from the originaltext.

8. Outline
With the helpof underlined ideas, draw the outlineof your
précis.
Omission
Omit all the unnecessary information or the long phrases which
could be replaced by oneword. All theadjectivesand theadverbs
can also beomitted in orderto makeagood précis.
Don’t Omit
While making a précis, the writer should never omit the
importantpointsand ideaswhich areessential to be described.
Size
Keep the fact in your mind that the lengthof the précis should
be theone third of theoriginal passage.

9. Indirect Speech
A précis should bewritten in indirect speech. If there is
direct speech in the passage, it should be changed into
indirect speech.
Tense and Person
Itshould bewritten in the third person and past tense. In
the case of universal truth the present tense should be
used.
Own Words
A précis should be written in your own words and the
writer should abstain from borrowing words from the
original passage

10.  Précis of aDialogue
 Theprécisof a dialogueorconversation should always beexpressed in form of
narrative.
 ObjectiveApproach
 A précis writer should adopt an objective approach. He should not add his
personal ideas toa précis. Put all the important points and ideas in a logical
order.
 One Paragraph
 Therecould be twoor more paragraphs in theoriginal text. While making the
précis, try towriteall the ideas in one paragraph.
 Rough Draft
 Afteromitting all the unnecessary ideas, thewritershould preparea rough
draft to finalize it.
 Final Draft
 Having read the roughdraft and pointed out some mistakes which may be
found in the rough draft, thewritercan prepare the final draft

11. Exercise for Practice
Tracts of land from which coal is obtained are called coal-
fields. These so-called fields are not on the surface of
earth, but at some depths below it. They consist of layers
of beds which run under the ground. When a layer of this
kind has been opened, the opening is called a mine and
hence is classed as a mineral.
Questions: 1. What is mine and why is coal termed as
mineral?
2. Write the precis of given passage & give a suitable title.

12. Answer: The layer of mineral underground when
opened is called a mine. Since coal is dug out from the
mine , it is called mineral.
Precis of the Passage
The coal-fields are underground tracts of land from
which coal is obtained. They have underground layers of
bed. They are called mine when they are opened.
Title: What are coal-fields

13. SOLVED EXCERCISE
Passage
Read the following passage and answerthequestiongivenat the
end:
A life of action and danger moderates the dread of death. It not only
gives us fortitude (courage) to bear pain, but teaches us at every step
the precarious (unstable) tenure on which we hold our present being.
Sedentary (inactive) and studious (diligent) men are the most
apprehensive (worried) on this score (ground). Dr. Johnson was an
instance in point. A few years seemed to him soon over, compared with
those sweeping contemplations on time and infinity with which he
had been used to pose himself. In the still life of a man of letters there
was no obvious reason for a change. He might sit in an arm chair and
pour out cups of tea to all eternity (endless) would it had been possible
for him to do so. The most rational cure after all for the inordinate
(excessive) fear of death is to set a just value on life. If we mere wish to
continue on the scene to indulge our head-strong (self willed) humour
and tormenting (painful) passions, we had better be gone at once,; and
if we only cherish a fondness for existence according to the good we
desire from it, the pang we feel at parting which it will not be very
server.

14. Questions:
Suggesta suitable title for the passage.
What typeof peopleareafraid of death and why?
Howcan weget rid of the fearof death?
What ideadoyou form about Dr. Johnson from this
passage?
Explain the meaningsof thewordswritten in bold
types.
Make a précis of thepassage.

15. SOLUTION
i) Suitable Title: The Fear ofDeath.
ii) People who spend much time sitting and studying are
the most afraid of death. Because they lead a peaceful life
and want nochange.
iii) The most sensible way of getting rid of the fear if death
is to value life properly. We should know that our hold
upon life isvery riskyand thatwe maydieany moment.
iv) From this passage we learn that Dr. Johnson was afraid
of death. He led a peaceful life and wanted no change. He
was fond of tea.

16. ) Explanation of the meanings ofwords;
Precarious Tenure — Uncertain period, life
Inordinate fear — Unreasonable fear, fear ofdeath.
vi) Summary orprécis.
If we lead an active life facing dangers, wewill less fear
death. People, who lead a lazy and peaceful life, are
the most afraid of death. The most sensible way of
getting rid of the fear of death is to value life properly.
If we do not give unnecessary importance to our life,
we will not feel the pang ofdeath.